For decades residents of Roslyn Heights have dreaded the intersection of Roslyn Road and Locust Lane, where a confusing curve and a traffic island contributed to a series of crashes, some of them deadly.
This spring after years of lobbying by community members and local officials, the intersection has finally been redesigned in a safety project led by Nassau County, the Town of North Hempstead, and National Grid.
Construction, which began in April and concluded at the end of May, eliminated the triangular traffic island, added a turning lane to improve flow and worked on realigning the road.
Officials said new pavement markings and signage are also part of the overhaul, with only minor cosmetic touches, including a “Welcome to Roslyn Heights” sign and a new Locust Lane street marker left to be completed.
“This was a long time coming,” said Nassau County Legislator Scott Straus, who advocated for the project. “There have been horrible accidents there over the decades, several fatal. One was a friend of my son’s. The community really pushed for this, and we were finally able to get it done.”
The intersection has been a danger for years.
A triangular island at the crossing often left drivers confused as Roslyn Road veered east into Locust Lane. The sharp curve, paired with high traffic speeds, made the area a hotspot for serious collisions.
The most high-profile incident came in March 2014, when two Mineola teenagers, Steven Clancy and Javier Gonzalez, both 19, were killed after their car jumped the curb and struck a tree in the backyard of a home on Oak Lane.
The crash came just hours after Nassau County and North Hempstead officials had convened a meeting about safety at the site.
“It’s scary. I mean, it’s like playing Russian roulette here,” homeowner Ron Rosen said in a published report in March 2014.
His family’s Oak Lane property, which sits just off the curve, has been struck by cars multiple times over the years, including accidents that damaged their house and destroyed a family vehicle.
In the aftermath of the crash, county officials installed speed signs, pavement markings, and a guardrail to shield Rosen’s home. But the fixes were temporary, and accidents continued to plague the area.
Straus said the project’s completion followed years of pressure from residents, the Roslyn Country Club Civic Association, and elected leaders.
“They were looking for some sort of help as well,” Straus said. “Nothing’s ever easy, nothing simple. But we had traffic engineers involved, the Department of Public Works, even National Grid, because they had underground pipelines in the area. It took a lot of coordination.”
“This dangerous intersection has seen numerous incidents; in fact there was another accident just a few weeks ago. After nearly 1.5 years of persistent advocacy by the civic association, the county started the work…” wrote the Roslyn Country Club in an Instagram post.
National Grid ultimately funded much of the project because of its utility work, while Nassau County handled the bulk of the road reconstruction.
The Roslyn Country Club Civic Association had also lobbied for beautification of the site, suggesting flowers and benches. But Straus said the priority needed to remain safety.
“You don’t want people sitting in the middle of traffic on a park bench,” Straus said. “This intersection has seen too much tragedy. Safety had to come first.”
Straus said the project’s completion marks a turning point.
“The community’s happy with it,” he said. “I think they’ll be even happier once the cosmetic stuff is done. Most importantly, we hope this reduces the number of accidents.”
